Picture frame

ABSTRACT

A picture frame is formed by holding or securing the periphery of a board by means of a plurality of clips. The clips, which are made of synthetic resin or metal each, comprise a surface plate, a base plate each entire clip a curved portion connecting these plates and serves as an elastic holder. The board is graduated according to the width of the clip so that the periphery of the board may be held by the clips without leaving any gap between the clips. The board is adapted to be cut along these graduations.

I United States Patent 1191 Kise 14 1 Feb.25, 1975 PICTURE FRAME [22] Filed: June 4, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 366,573

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Tester 40/l55 Munn 40/152 Primary Examiner-Robert W. Michell Assistant Examiner-Wenceslao J. Contreras Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Toren and McGeady U [57] ABSTRACT ..47-67l98 d t 1 9 7 2 i232: .f. ..47-l25890 iUi A picture frame is formed y holding securmg the periphery of a board by means of a plurality of clips. The clips, which are made of synthetic resin or metal U-S. C]. .L each comprise a surface plate a base plate each en- [51] Int. Cl. G09! l/l2 i li a v d portion connecting these plates and of Search Serves as an elastic holder The board is graduated ac. cording to the width of the clip so that the periphery References Cited of the board may be held by the clips without leaving UNITED STATES PATENTS any gap between the clips. The board is adapted to be 1,481,120 1/1924 Brombosz 40/155 cut along these graduatlonsl 1,558,987 10/1925 Kallscheuer 40/155 2,777,232 l/l957 Kulicke 40/155 2 Claims, 10 Drawing Flgures PATENTEI] FEB? 51975 sum 10F 2 FIG. 1

PATENTEI] FEB25|975 774 SHEET 2 [IF 2 FIG. 50 FIG. 5b

FIG. 6

1 PICTURE FRAME SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a new picture frame for use in the display of a work such as pictures, photographs or the like.

An object of the present invention is to provide a complete picture frame by holding the peripheral edge of a board by means of a plurality of clips which form component parts of the picture frame without any gap between the clips.

In this invention, the board is graduated according to the size of value or an integral multiple of the width of the clip or according to the size or value equal to the width of one or more of the clips and by cutting the board along these graduations as desired. With this arrangement there is easily obtained the board of a predetermined size and of a length and breadth in which the clips can be arranged in close contact with each other according to the exact number of clips.

An object of this invention is to provide for variety in the style of a picture frame by giving various colors or patterns to the clips or preparing graduations having the size or value of a multiple corresponding to the width of a standard clip or the size or value equal to the width of the one or more standard clips.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a picture frame according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of FIG. 1;

. FIGS. 3a, b and c are side views of three alternate forms of clips;

FIGS. 40 and b are plan views of FIGS. 3a and b respectively;

FIGS. 5a and b are plan views of two forms of alternate clips constituting a corner portion; and

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the board.

DESCRIPTION OF GENERAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Generally picture frames are constructed the peripheral edge part of the work, that is the picture or photograph, is held by the frame. The frame is made of syn- DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes a flat board made of an original paper, a synthetic resin plate or the like, numeral 2 a work such as a picture or a photograph (such picture or photograph being hereinafter referred to as a work) disposed on the board 1, and numeral 3 a transparent plate such as a transparent glass plate or a transplastic plate disposed on the work 2. In this embodiment, the peripheral edges of the three thicknesses of the board 1, the work 2 and the transparent plate 3 are held by a plurality clips 4 which are made of synthetic resin, metal or other suitable elastic materials and which are arranged without any space or gap between adjacent clips whereby the frame for the work is formed by the entire plurality of clips 4. In addition, at the four corners of the frame, clips 4' as shown in FIGS. 5a, b are employed. In this case, either the clip 4' approximately consisting of one square (FIG. 5b) or the clip 4' approximately consisting of two triangles (FIG. 5a) may be employed. The clips 4, 4 each comprises a surface plate 5, a base plate 6 and a curved portion 7 positioned between both plates 5 and 6 and which serve as an elastic holder. In this case, the shapes of surface plate 5, base plate 6 and curved portion 7 may vary. Therefore, picture frames of various appearances can be obtained by providing a variety of shapes to the clips. FIGS. 3a, b, c exemplify three shapes of the clips. FIG. 3a is a side view ofa clip whose curved portion 7 provides a relatively good height. FIG. 3b is a side view of a clip whose curved portion 7 provides a medium height. FIG. 30 is a side view of a clip whose curved portion 7 has a round shape.

On the other hand, the board 1 is horizontally and vertically graduated as indicated at 8 according to the size or value of a multiple corresponding to the width of the clips 4, 4 or according to the size or value equal to the width of one or more of the clips 4, 4. The grad uations 8 consists generally of a drawn line, perforated line or notched line spaced at an interval equivalent to the width of these clips as shown in FIG. 6. The board l is horizontally and vertically cut off along these graduations according to the size of the work 2 and then the board 1 together with the work 2 is held by the clips 4, 4' as described above. In this case, the size of the board 1 is related to the width of the clip 4 as described above and therefore in any case the size of the total of the clips 4 to be used coincides with the size of the board.

What is claimed is:

l. A picture-frame assembly for mounting within a decorative peripheral frame a work, such as a picture, photograph or the like, said assembly comprising a planar board having a front and a back face and generally sized to approximate the size of said work upon which said work is adapted to be placed, a plurality of relatively small individual clips adapted to be releasably placed about the edges of said work and of said board to extend from engagement against the face of said work to engagement against the rear face of said board, said clips being formed of resilient material and configured to hold said work and said board together by a spring force created therebetween by said clips, said board and said clips being sized relative to each other so that each individual clip occupies only a relatively small fraction of the periphery of said assembly and so that when said clips are placed immediately adjacent each other along the edges of said board and of said work they substantially occupy the entire periphery of said assembly without gaps between said clips,with said clips extending a distance over the face of said work to form a continuous decorative border therefor, said board including spaced horizontal and spaced vertical graduation means, said graduation means being spaced, a distance substantially equal to the width of one or more of said clips, whereby said board may be separated at selected graduation means to thereby adapt the board to the size of the work with the number of clips utilized to form said frame being variable depending on the selected size of said board.

2. A picture frame according to claim 1 wherein said graduation means are spaced a distance equivalent to the width of one of said clips. 

1. A picture-frame assembly for mounting within a decorative peripheral frame a work, such as a picture, photograph or the like, said assembly comprising a planar board having a front and a back face and generally sized to approximate the size of said work upon which said work is adapted to be placed, a plurality of relatively small individual clips adapted to be releasably placed about the edges of said work and of said board to extend from engagement against the face of said work to engagement against the rear face of said board, said clips being formed of resilient material and configured to hold said work and said board together by a spring force created therebetween by said clips, said board and said clips being sized relative to each other so that each individual clip occupies only a relatively small fraction of the periphery of said assembly and so that when said clips are placed immediately adjacent each other along the edges of said board and of said work they substantially occupy the entire periphery of said assembly without gaps between said clips, with said clips extending a distance over the face of said work to form a continuous decorative border therefor, said board including spaced horizontal and spaced vertical graduation means, said graduation means being spaced a distance substantially equal to the width of one or more of said clips, whereby said board may be separated at selected graduation means to thereby adapt the board to the size of the work with the number of clips utilized to form said frame being variable depending on the selected size of said board.
 2. A picture frame according to claim 1 wherein said graduation means are spaced a distance equivalent to the width of one of said clips. 